If sleep deprivation is impacting my level of alertness one day, can I fix it immediately by just getting a good night’s sleep or are there residual or more long-term effects?
Sleep problems can be caused by a host of factors ranging from physical discomfort, stress, and environmental factors to pathology. For the ‘average’ person, better sleep quality can be as simple as a new mattress. Amazingly, most people don’t consider that they can outlive their beds to the same extent that they realize they can outlive their car or their dishwasher. Based on our research, I consider a new mattress to be an important factor in attaining improved sleep. As we found and suggest, if a new mattress can significantly improve sleep quality, it is a much healthier alternative than many other options.
From what we have seen in our studies is that replacing an older mattress (5 years or older) with a new, good quality, medium-firm mattress can significantly reduce discomforts such as shoulder and back pain, and back stiffness, and can significantly increase sleep quality and comfort. Not only were such benefits realized immediately, but they were sustained over time. Furthermore, research has found that certain stress behavior and symptoms decrease with greater sleep quality leading us to believe that sleep deprivation is associated with stress. Thus, in reducing stress we can expect to improve physical, psychological, and emotional factors.
Most mattresses come with a manufacturers guarantee for 10, 15, or 20 years, but this only refers to the materials and not the structure or support. There are many factors that determine the time when one should replace a mattress. For instance, what was the initial quality of the bed? How heavy is the person sleeping in the bed? Heavier individuals can place more stress on the support system of the mattress, thus reducing its longevity. Amazingly, the average age of peoples’ mattress is around 10 years, which would mean it has yielded over 25,000 hours of support. That’s over 1,050 days spent on the mattress! I think it is overoptimistic to believe that your mattress can maintain its original support for that long and with that much use.
If you are experiencing trouble sleeping, a good rule of thumb is to occasionally assess your sleep quality and the quality of your mattress. Just like any product frequently used, mattresses need to be replaced regularly. After five to seven years of use, a mattress may no longer provide the comfort and support needed for optimum rest. The Better Sleep Council recommends that you assess your mattress at the five to seven year mark to determine if a replacement is needed.
The standard recommendation is that an individual get eight hours of sleep a night, 7.5 to 8.5 is optimal. But the latest Better Sleep Council survey found that a majority, 73 percent, of Americans are only getting seven hours of sleep or less in a given work week. In fact, 70 million Americans are affected by sleep problems. That figure has grown over the past 20 years and is expected to reach 100 million by the middle of the 21st century. To help get an adequate amount of sleep each night, it is important to keep a consistent sleep-wake schedule. Even on the weekends it’s important to stick to your bedtime routine and regular bedtime and wake-up schedule.
Yes, sleep deprivation is impacting your level of alertness, your productivity, and your ability to socially interact. Secondly, if your sleep problems are related to a mattress that is no longer providing optimum comfort and support on a daily basis, yes, you can get an immediate benefit by sleeping on a new bedding system similar to the ones we used in our study.
Sleep deprivation does impact performance. Performance and mental impairments due to lack of sleep can be equivalent to alcohol intoxication and contribute to an annual loss of millions in the form of increased sick days, absenteeism, loss of productivity. To improve sleep quality, exercise, eat right, maintain a consistent sleep schedule, be sure your bedding system provides optimum comfort and support, and make sure your sleep environment is conducive to getting a good night’s sleep.
There are many methods to reduce stress such as exercise, meditation, progressive relaxation and imaging. Our focus is not that stress is related to a lack of sleep, but rather that a lack of sleep is related to stress. Based on our studies, greater sleep quality is associated with a reduction in stress symptoms and that the reduction in stress along with greater sleep quality can be sustained over time.
